Books of Interest for the Integration of Faith and Learning

Books about Integration
This section lists books specifically about the integration of faith and learning.

• Claerbaut, David. Faith and Learning on the Edge: A Bold New Look at Religion in Higher Education. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004. The first part of the book provides a very helpful overview of the issues, from postmodernism to the need for a Christian mind and scholarly activity. The second part of the book addresses some practical issues, especially in making the connection between faith and the various disciplines, such as art, science, and philosophy. This book should be in every integration library.
• Dockery, David S. and Gregory Alan Thornbury. Shaping a Christian Worldview: The Foundations of Christian Higher Education. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2002. Includes chapters applying the Christian worldview to various disciplines.
• Eckel, Mark. The Whole Truth: Classroom Strategies for a Biblical Integration. Xulon: 2004. The process of integration for the K-12 classroom.
• Heie, Harold and David L. Wolfe. The Reality of Christian Learning: Strategies for Faith-Discipline Integration. 1987, rpt. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2004. A festschrift with two chapters each on several disciplines.

Books Related to Critical Thinking
The books in this section are helpful for developing critical thinking skills, the skills of analysis, interpretation, and evaluation. They will also help you gain ain understanding of how information is created, processed, and accepted or rejected. These books cover thinking skills in general and do not relate to the integration process specifically.

• Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. 4th edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. This highly readable book covers six techniques of compliance used to manipulate people's thinking and behavior. The techniques are reciprocation (I give you something and you feel obligated to give me something), commitment and consistency (you already did that, so you'd better do this or you'll be inconsistent), social proof (everybody, or at least your friends, are doing this, so you should, too), liking (I believe that newscaster because he's so good looking), authority (studies show that our product is good for you), and scarcity (act now while supplies last). You won't be shocked to learn about these techniques, since you probably already knew that they are being used against you, but learning about how pervasive they and how powerful they are makes the book worth reading. Recommended as one of the basic books for any critical thinking education. I used it in my critical thinking classes and students really enjoyed it and (I think) profited from it.
• Fischer, David Hackett. Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought. New York: Harper & Row, 1970. These three hundred pages of fallacies and their examples provide a sobering revelation of what can go wrong with the interpretation of evidence in any field, not just history. Fischer lists dozens and dozens of logical fallacies and explains how historical thinking goes awry. The book includes fallacies of inquiry (question framing, factual verification, factual significance), explanation (generalization, narration, causation, motivation, composition, false analogy) and argument (semantical distortion and substantive distraction). The book is out of print but some used copies might be available. It would be worth while to get one.
• Huck, Schuyler W. and Howard M. Sandler. Rival Hypotheses: Alternative Interpretations of Data Based Conclusions. New York: Harper & Row, 1979. This very famous book is also unjustly out of print, but you may be able to get a used copy. The authors present 100 cases where an experiment or a collection of data has been interpreted in a logical way. You are then asked to generate one or more rival hypotheses, alternate explanations for the same data. In the back of the book are criticisms of the original interpretations and suggestions for rival explanations, often accompanied by additional facts that explain why the original (and official) conclusions were suspect or plain wrong. The point is, of course, that interpretation is subject to a number of complex challenges, including problems with representative data, investigator bias, flaws in experimental design, and so forth. This book might also be recommended as a source for developing creative thinking skills because it encourages the reader to generate multiple, logical explanations for the same data.
• MacDougall, Curtis D. Hoaxes. 1940. Reprint New York: Dover Books, 1958. This book is a classic tour of the many reasons why people are so easily led to believe false information. Whether from the prestige of the presenter, pet theories, the cultural climate, or other reason, MacDougall presents us with both theory and examples of many hoaxes. There are four chapters on why we don't disbelieve (indifference, ignorance and superstition, suggestion, prestige), seven chapters on incentives to believe (financial gain, vanity and conspicuous waste, promoting a cause, chauvinism, prejudices and pet theories, the thirst for vicarious thrills, cultural climate) and nine chapters on how hoaxes succeed (historical, governmental, religious, scientific, literary, journalistic, public relations, hoaxes of exposure, hoaxes on the wing). The book is out of print but copies are avaiable via Amazon or other used sources. The book is old, but its lessons are contemporary. Another classic.

• Boa, Kenneth D. and Robert M. Bowman, Jr. Faith Has Its Reasons: An Integrative Approach to Defending Christianity. An Apologetics Handbook. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2001. This book provides an excellent contextualization of the various apologetics strategies and thier adherents. It covers four schools or emphases: classical apologetics (emphasizing reason and deductive method), evidentialist apologetics (emphasizing historical evidence, interpretation of fact, and inductive method), presuppositionalist or Reformed apologetics (emphasizing revelation and "the belief in God as basic" or assumed), and fideist apologetics (emphasizing the personal relationship with Christ instead of intellectual persuasion). A fifth, integrative, approach is also discussed, pointing out that techniques and ideas from all four approaches can be combined or used effectively depending on the circumstances. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach are discussed. This book could be used as a reference, where you just look at the overviews and tables, or you can do as I did and read through all 275,000 words.
• Chesterton, G. K. Orthodoxy. 1908. Reprint San Francisco: Ignatius Press, n.d. There are several editions of this great classic. I've just listed the one I have. Chesterton, writing just after the turn of the twentieth century, is a surprisingly astute commentator of both modern and postmodern intellectual errors and their irrational hostilities toward Christianity. There is much good sense and great wisdom in this book.
• Colson, Charles and Nancy Pearcey. How Now Shall We Live? Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1999. Award winning book about connecting faith and living by applying the Christian worldview to every aspect of life.
• McCallum, Dennis, ed. The Death of Truth. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1996. The essayists in this volume cover the challenge of postmodernist thinking in several areas of learning and practice (health care, literature, education, history, psychotherapy, law, science, and religion). The book also provides a good discussion about what postmodernism is, its relation to modernism, and some ideas for communicating with those infected by the relativism at postmodernism's core. Readable and enlightening.
• Moreland, J. P. Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1997. In this book, Moreland calls Christians to action--to intellectual action. This book is a manifesto for the life of the Christian mind, developed and put to use for the service of God. I used this book in my critical thinking class for several semesters and students enthusiastically reported how it changed their whole view of education, making them more serious about learning and serving God with their minds. A lengthy appendix (Appendix 2) offers many resources relating to integrating faith and discipline.
• Moreland, J. P. and William Lane Craig. Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
• Peterson, Michael L. With All Your Mind: A Christian Philosophy of Education. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001. The book discussed many approaches to and theories of education, from the traditional to the postmodern, and develops a Christian response and philosophy along the way. Good book for those who plan to teach at any level.
• Veith, Jr.,  Gene Edward. Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1994. This book provides a good introduction to (and critique of) postmodernism. The book is divided into four parts: postmodern thought (a definition of what the pomo worldview is all about), postmodern art (a look at the art world), postmodern society (tribalism, multiculturalism, power, gender, race, class), and postmodern religion (from the Eastern influenced empty spirituality to the effect of postmodernism on Christianity). Like McCallum's Death of Truth, this is a great introduction to the pomo influences now infesting our culture.

Books Related to Hermeneutics
An accurate understanding of the Bible is crucial for good integration. The following books provide guidelines for interpreting biblical texts.

• Bullinger, E. W. Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, Explained and Illustrated. 1898. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1968. Figurative language plays a major role in Scripture, so understanding its use is important to understanding the meaning of many passages. This enormous book is the classic explication. This is not strictly a book about hermeneutics per se, but it belongs in the category of books helpful for accurate interpretation.
• Fee, Gordon D. and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993
• Virkler, Henry A. Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation. Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1981. Includes coverage of historical and theoretical interpretive trends as well as the types of analysis (historical-cultural, lexical-syntactical, theological) and special methods (for dealing with figurative language, for example) of proper interpretation. A good accessible introduction.
• Zuck, Roy B. Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth. Colorado Springs: Victor/Cook, 1991. Another useful book. Zuck's steps are to discover what the text says, discover what is means, and then discover how it applies to us.

Books Related to Bridge Issues
The key intellectual and cultural struggle today is over what it means to be human. Are we the accidental products of a mindless material process or have we been created in the image of God and by God? Currently, Darwinian evolution is the main proxy issue used to fight the conflict over this answer. Here are some books of interest relating to that and other similar issues.

• Johnson, Phillip E. Darwin on Trial. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1991. All of Johnson's books are readable, entertaining, and informative. This one covers some of the weaknesses in evolutionary theory.
• Johnson, Phillip E. Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law, and Education. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995. Here Johnson exposes the naturalistic metaphysics behind much of what passes for scientific knowledge and discusses the weaknesses of naturalism itself.
• Johnson, Phillip E. Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law, and Culture. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998. A collection of essays further exploring the fact that evolutionary theory is actually grounded in metaphysical commitment.
• Johnson, Phillip E. The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000. Here Johnson argues that the battle over what is sometimes described as "religion and science" is really a culture war, between two religions (materialism and theism). It is important to understand that materialism and its buddy naturalism (terms often used interchangeably) are not required as part of the definition of science. The wedge idea is to separate materialist/atheist metaphysics from the definition of science.
• Johnson, Phillip E. The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning, and Public Debate. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002. Here Johnson asks some new and provocative questions about the relation between scientific investigation and theological ideas.